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Obeah
The power to heal is nothing at which to scoff, for the might of Obeah has saved many lives. However, there is more to this Discipline than just healing. It provides a form of control over other people's bodies and spirits. The ability to steal souls is gained at Level Five, and may well be at least part of the reason why vampires so readily believe the Tremere's propaganda. Obeah seems connected to the Salubri's third eye, and any Kindred *Sense Vitality The Salubri can feel the flow of a subject’s life force after touching him. Sense Vitality may be used to determine how much damage a person can withstand before death, which can be useful in sizing up a potential opponent. It can also aid in medical diagnosis or feeding, as it can reveal infections and diseases. System: The Salubri must touch the target to see how close to death she is. This also requires a Perception + Empathy roll (difficulty 7). One success on this roll identifies a subject as a mortal, vampire, ghoul or other creature, or none of the above. Two successes reveal how many health levels of damage the subject has suffered. Three successes tell how full the subject’s blood pool is (if a vampire) or how many blood points she has left in her system (if a mortal or other blood-bearing form of life). Four successes reveal any diseases in the subject’s bloodstream, such as hemophilia or HIV. A player may opt to learn the information yielded by a lesser degree of success – for example, a player who accumulates three successes may learn whether or not a subject is a vampire as well as the contents of his blood pool. Alternately, this power may be used as a sort of limited “aftersight,” revealing to the Salubri how the subject came to be in her current state. Each success on this roll allows the player to ask the Storyteller one question about the subject’s health or health levels. “Was he drugged?” or “Are his wounds aggravated?” are valid questions, but “Did the Sabbat do this?” or “What did the Lupine who killed him look like?” are not. The Salubri may use this power on herself if she has injuries but has somehow los the memory of how the wounds were received. **Anasthetic Touch This power may be used to block a voluntary subject’s pain from wounds or disease, or to put a mortal to sleep. As with Sense Vitality, physical contact is required to anaesthetize someone. This power may not be used to block the Salubri’s own pain. System: If the subject is willing to undergo this process, the player needs to spend a blood point to block the subject’s pain and make a Willpower roll (difficulty 6). This allows the subject to ignore all wound penalties for one turn per success. A second application of this power may be made once the first one has expired, at the cost of another blood point and another Willpower roll. If the subject is unwilling for some reason, the player must make a contested Willpower roll against the subject (difficulty 8). To put a mortal to sleep, the same system applies. The mortal sleeps for five to ten hours – whatever his normal sleep cycle is – and regains one temporary Willpower point upon awakening. He sleeps peacefully and does not suffer nightmares or the effects of any Derangements while asleep. He may be awakened normally (or violently). Kindred are unaffected by this power – their corpselike bodies are too tied to death. ****Corpore Sano The Salubri may heal the injuries of others by laying his hands over the wound and channeling his own energies into the healing process. The subject feels a warm tingling in the affected area as it heals. System: This power works on any living or undead creature, but the character must touch the actual injury (or the closest part of the victim’s body in the case of internal injuries). Each health level to be healed requires the expenditure of one blood point and one turn of contact. Aggravated wounds may also be healed in this manner, but the vampire must spend two blood points instead of one for an aggravated health level. ****Mens Sana This power allows the Salubri to remove a subject’s derangements, or to at least mitigate their effects for a time. Salubri Embraced in the modern age sometimes prefer to use psychological interview techniques, while older members of the bloodline prefer to whisper soothing words or perform exorcism rituals. Some Kindred scholars believe the Antediluvian Saulot eased the Ancient Malkav’s madness with this power, but a few others believe that Saulot may have caused Malkav’s madness himself… System: The player spends two blood points and rolls Intelligence + Empathy (difficulty 8). The use of Mens Sana takes at least 10 minutes of relatively uninterrupted conversation. Success cures the subject of one derangement of the Salubri player’s choice. This power cannot cure a Malkavian of his core derangement, though it temporarily alleviates its effects for the rest of the scene. A botch inflicts the same derangement on the Salubri for the rest of the scene, and the target’s own derangement is intensified. This power may not be used by the Salubri to cure her own derangements. *****Unburdening the Bestial Soul The mainstay of the healing abilities of the Salubri, this power allows a character to stare into another individual’s eyes and draw the subject’s soul out of his body and into the Salubri’s third eye, storing it within the Salubri’s own soul while working powerful healing magics on it. This power is the justification that the Tremere give for their pursuit of the Salubri as “soul-stealing fiends.” Tremere accounts of the diabolical practices of the Salubri ensure that few subjects are willing to have their souls removed from their bodies. The subject’s body becomes a mindless husk while it lacks a soul, and may not be affected by any mind-altering Disciplines or other supernatural powers – there’s no mind there to control. However, it does respond to simple verbal commands from the Salubri who has its soul. If not reminded to eat or perform other personal upkeep, the body will not do so and will eventually die. System: This power may be used to draw out the soul of any character except those with Humanity or Path ratings of 1 or 0 or those who follow particularly inhuman Paths of Enlightenment; some souls are beyond redemption. The player rolls Stamina + Empathy (difficulty of 12 minus the subject’s Humanity or Path rating). A botch gives the Salubri the subject’s Derangement for the remainder of the scene. The Salubri must make eye contact with the subject and the subject must be willing to be subjected to this power. A soul drawn out in this manner becomes part of the Salubri while the healing process takes place. She may return it to its proper body at any time. While the soul is within the Salubri, she may spend a permanent Willpower point to restore a point to the subject’s Humanity or Path rating. The Salubri may restore a maximum number of points equal to her Empathy score, and may not raise the subject’s Humanity or Path higher than the sum of his relevant Virtues (for example, a character subscribing to Humanity with Conscience 3 and Self-Control 3 could not have his Humanity raised above 6 in this manner). While a soul is being held by the Salubri, its body is an empty husk, comatose or in torpor, with no motivating force within it. A soul whose body is killed immediately vanishes, its disposition unknown to any (although the Salubri strongly suspect that the souls that vanish in this manner are completely and irreversibly destroyed). Killing the body of a drawn-out soul may warrant a Conscience or Conviction roll if the killer knows of the soul’s absence, at the Storyteller’s discretion. There’s just no call for such brutality. A soul that is being detained against its will may attempt to break free from the Salubri. This is resolved by a contested Willpower roll with the Salubri (difficulty of the opponent’s Wits + Empathy). Only one attempt per night may be made. Category:Victorian London RPG Wiki Category:Vampire Disciplines